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Lauryn Azu, Special to the Detroit Free Press
Published 6:00 a.m. ET July 27, 2018

Previous winners of the annual Inclusivity Mural Contest sponsored by the Ferndale Arts and Cultural Commission on display outside the Cupcake Station on 9 Mile.(Photo: Lauryn Azu, Special to the Detroit Free Press)

Christina Krysiak is making a statement about inclusivity in her community through her art. And she is using exclusivity to make her point.

The 17-year-old Ferndale artist recently won the third annual Inclusivity Mural Contest sponsored by the Ferndale Arts and Cultural Commission with a drawing that will soon be turned into a mural. Her artwork will be featured with previous contest winners during the Funky Ferndale Art Fair from Sept. 21-23 at the Cupcake Station, on 9 Mile in downtown Ferndale.

In her winning drawing, Krysiak depicts the faces of three different women, each with a unique facial feature that represents how women still face double standards and are judged harshly for their looks.

"Having each of the girls with their eyes closed represents that societal standards of beauty are not always what they seem," said Krysiak. By exposing the exclusivity of beauty norms, Krystian said, she is emphasizing inclusivity.

Matt Loeb, the president of the Ferndale Arts and Cultural Commission, said that Krysiak’s piece won for its fun combination of realism and fantasy.

Artist Christina Krysiak said her winning entry depicts three different women, each with a unique facial feature that represents how women still face double standards and are judged harshly for their looks.(Photo: Ferndales Arts & Cultural Commission)

“This was by far the most challenging year,” Loeb said. “We liked the radically different approach to the faces that Christina Krysiak used.”

One unique feature of this exhibition is that attendees of the art fair will have an opportunity to join in on the creation of the winning mural during the Funky Ferndale Art Fair.

Krysiak is unsure how she will make the creation of her mural as inclusive as possible, but said it’s important to her because wants her art to be welcome and accessible to people of all skill levels.

By promoting this contest, the Inclusivity Mural Contest’s mission is to welcome the public to create and engage youth artists in Ferndale-area schools. In the fall, Krysiak will be a senior at The Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts in Oak Park, which has worked closely with the Ferndale Arts and Cultural Commission since the contest began in 2015.

Students submit a draft of their creation to the commission, and the winner receives $500 and is paired up with a professional artist to collaborate on a final design. Krysiak will be working with the artist, designer and gallery coordinator Natalie Balazovich.

The professional artist will work with Krysiak “to help translate the work into a form that the public will be able to paint, as well as to make sure that the image will work at the larger size,” Loeb said.

This young artist has always been intrigued by mural painting, but this is her first painting of this size that will be converted into a 5-by-10-foot-long mural. Krysiak is interested in attending either art school or culinary school when she graduates from CASA, and is excited to use her art to interact with others in her community this fall.
Krysiak was encouraged to enter this competition by her art teacher at CASA, Jerome Lemenu, who discussed the importance of the contest's theme with students in his class.

"(My) students know how important it is for a community to celebrate inclusivity and promote it," said Lemenu. "We are all at our best when everyone in the room feels welcome."